Local SEO Services > Grow Your Local Citations
What are local directory citations?
Local citations are mentions of your business on other webpages. Local citations help improve your local SEO by telling search engines where your business is located and what services you offer.
They can be in the form of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) and sometimes a link to your website (NAP+W). Citations can come from a variety of sources, such as online directories, website listings, and even social media profiles.
The important thing is that the citation includes all of your NAP (or NAP+W) information, and that these details are consistent across the web.
How can local citations help my business grow?
If you're looking to take your business to the next level, local citations can help.
By increasing your online visibility and improving your search engine ranking, local citations will help you attract more customers and grow your business.
Local citations can improve your online visibility, increase your search engine ranking and help attract more customers.
Growing your local directory citations will…
1. Improve Your Online Visibility
Local citations can help improve your online visibility by making sure your business is listed in online directories and other relevant websites. This increased visibility will help attract more customers and grow your business.
2. Increase Your Search Engine Ranking
Local citations can also help increase your search engine ranking by building up your backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. The more backlinks you have, the higher you'll rank in search engines like Google.
3. Attract More Customers
By increasing your online visibility and improving your search engine ranking, local citation services can help you attract more customers to your business. With more customers, you'll be able to grow your business and achieve success.
How can I grow my local business citations?
The more high-quality citations your business has, the more likely you are to rank higher in search results.
But what can you do to start improving your local citations?
Below are 4 citation-building activities you can do for your local business today…
1. Localise your website
Ensure your Name, Address and Phone number (NAP) is clearly stated on each and every page of your website, especially your Contact page. Your website acts as one of the primary reference points for all search engines when checking the validity of your NAP on other sites, including local directories.
Creating location pages, and adding Schema markup throughout your website also make a big difference in how visible your site is in search results.
2. Add your business to Google Business Profile
This is one of the most important things you can do for your local business, period. Google My Business is a free listing that allows businesses to control their information on Google Search and Maps.
Claiming and optimising your Google Business Profile listing is a key part of any good local SEO strategy.
3. Leverage social media
As well as offering businesses an easy way to reach new audiences with their content, social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and even YouTube provide opportunities to build your website's authority with backlinks to your website.
4. Get listed in online directories
There are hundreds (if not thousands) of online directories where you can list your business. While some of these directories (like Yelp and Foursquare) are general, others (like Houzz and Opentable) are industry-specific but most are localised in some way.
Getting listed in as many relevant directories as possible is a great way to build citations and improve your visibility in search results.
Do you want help growing your local business citations?
Local citation-building is available as a standalone-off service, or as part of our great value monthly Local SEO Essentials service.
We’ll research the most relevant citations for your business and, each month, improve your local visibility and website authority by adding new local, niche and general online directory citations for your local business. We’ll also identify and fix inaccurate or duplicate listings.